Wool Heroes

Sheep farmers and their families are a solid base of the New Zealand economy as they develop their properties and tend their flocks – during all sorts of weather, opportunity and adversity, day in and day out. Sometimes in remote locations, they love the land and the animals that graze on it. Their care of the land, including planting trees, helps ensure a clean green future for New Zealand.

Pioneering settlers imported sheep from the early 1800s and New Zealand was “built on the sheep’s back."

Sporting heroes of wool

The shearers who harvest our wool are national heroes.

These men and women are some of the finest athletes in the world. The work hard for long hours to harvest the wool and ensure it reaches the market on time. Shearers are a special group who go to work with a towel to wipe off the sweat and only get paid for the sheep they shear.

In the early 1960s a group of young farmers got together to establish a sheep shearing competition. Hundreds of shearers were attracted to Masterton to demonstrate their sporting prowess. The competition was fierce and the spectators were enthralled.

The Golden Shears competition became so successful that 50 years on, the championship still attracts competitors and audiences from all around the world.

At The Wool Shed you’ll start to understand the tremendous physicality and supreme skill it takes to become a champion, as you view the international wall of fame, watch videos and read stories.